Robert De Niro
|birth_place = Manhattan, New York, United States |other_names = Robert DeNero |occupation = Actor, producer |years_active = 1963–present |children = 6 |parents = Robert De Niro, Sr. Virginia Admiral }} Robert De Niro (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor and producer who has starred in over 90 films. His first major film roles were in the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and Martin Scorsese's crime film Mean Streets (1973). In 1974, after being turned down for the role of Sonny Corleone in the crime film The Godfather (1972), he was cast as the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. De Niro's longtime collaboration with Scorsese later earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He also earned nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver (1976) and Cape Fear (1991), both directed by Scorsese. De Niro received additional Academy Award nominations for Michael Cimino's Vietnam war drama The Deer Hunter (1978), Penny Marshall's drama Awakenings (1990), and David O. Russell's romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook (2012). His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorsese's crime film Goodfellas (1990) earned him a BAFTA nomination in 1990. De Niro has earned four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for his work in the musical drama New York, New York (1977), opposite Liza Minnelli, the action comedy Midnight Run (1988), the gangster comedy Analyze This (1999), and the comedy Meet the Parents (2000). He has also simultaneously directed and starred in films such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale (1993) and the spy film The Good Shepherd (2006). De Niro has also received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010. Also in 2006, he received the Italian nationality. Film career De Niro's first film role came at the age of 20, when he appeared in Brian De Palma's 1963 film The Wedding Party, but the film was not released until 1969. He then appeared in Roger Corman's film Bloody Mama (1970). He gained popular attention with his role as a dying Major League Baseball player in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and began his collaboration with Martin Scorsese when he played the small-time criminal Johnny Boy in Mean Streets (1973). De Niro had a pivotal role in the Francis Ford Coppola film The Godfather Part II (1974), playing the young Vito Corleone. Coppola had remembered his previous auditions for the roles of Sonny Corleone, Michael Corleone, Carlo Rizzi, and Paulie Gatto in The Godfather. His performance earned him his first Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actor, although Coppola accepted the award as De Niro was not present at the ceremony. De Niro became the first actor to win an Academy Award speaking mainly a foreign language; in this case, multiple Sicilian dialects, although he delivered a few lines in English. He and Marlon Brando, who played the older Vito Corleone in the first film, are the only actors to have won Oscars for portraying the same fictional character. The two came together onscreen for the only time in The Score (2001). After working with Scorsese in Mean Streets, De Niro went on to have a successful working relationship with him in films such as Taxi Driver (1976), York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). They also acted together in Guilty by Suspicion (1991) and provided their voices for the animated feature Shark Tale (2004). Taxi Driver was particularly important to De Niro's career; his iconic performance as Travis Bickle catapulted him to stardom and forever linked his name with Bickle's famous "You talkin' to me?" monologue, which De Niro largely improvised. The role of Bickle earned him his first Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. His portrayal of Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull was lauded, as well as his interpretation of Max Cady in Cape Fear. In 1976, De Niro appeared in 1900, Bernardo Bertolucci's biographical exploration of life in Italy before World War II, seen through the eyes of two Italian childhood friends at the opposite sides of society's hierarchy. He also starred in The Last Tycoon (1976), directed by Elia Kazan. Kazan recalls that De Niro "would do almost anything to succeed" and noted that he cut his weight down from 170 to 128 pounds for the role in this film. Kazan adds that De Niro "is one of a select number of actors I've directed who work hard at their trade, and the only one who asked to rehearse on Sundays. Most of the others play tennis. Bobby and I would go over the scenes to be shot. Bobby is more meticulous... he's very imaginative. He's very precise. He figures everything out both inside and outside. He has good emotion. He's a character actor: everything he does he calculates. In a good way, but he calculates." Kazan developed and used those personality traits for his character in the film. And although the film did poorly at the box office, reviewers praised De Niro's acting. Film critic Marie Brenner wrote that "for De Niro, it is a role that surpasses even his brilliant and daring portrayal of Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II... his performance deserves to be compared with the very finest". De Niro played Michael Vronsky in the acclaimed Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter (1978), for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Fearing he had become typecast in mob roles, he began expanding into occasional comedic roles in the mid-1980s and has had much success there as well, with such films as Brazil (1985), Midnight Run (1988), Analyze This (1999), Meet the Parents (2000), and Meet the Fockers (2004). Other films include True Confessions (1981), Falling in Love (1984), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Mission (1986), Angel Heart (1987), The Untouchables (1987), Goodfellas (1990), Awakenings (1990), Heat (1995), The Fan (1996), Sleepers (1996), Wag the Dog (1997), Jackie Brown (1997), Ronin (1998) and Flawless (1999). In 1987, De Niro was the President of the Jury at the 15th Moscow International Film Festival. He appeared in This Boy's Life (1993). Around this time, he was offered the role of Mitch Leary in In the Line of Fire (1993). However, due to scheduling conflicts with his directorial debut A Bronx Tale (1993), he gave up the role to John Malkovich, who later received an Academy Award nomination for it. In A Bronx Tale, which De Niro agreed to direct after seeing the screenwriter's one-man off-Broadway play, he played a bus driver who struggles to keep his son away from a local mobster. At the 20th Moscow International Film Festival in 1997, he was awarded an Honorable Prize for contribution to cinema. De Niro would reference In the Line of Fire, along with Dirty Harry (1971) and Magnum Force (1973), two more of Eastwood's films, in Righteous Kill (2008). He also appeared in the crime drama Cop Land (1997). He starred in the police action-thriller Heat (1995), along with fellow actor and long-time friend, Al Pacino. The duo drew much attention from fans, as both have generally been compared throughout their careers. Though Pacino and De Niro both starred in The Godfather Part II (1974), they shared no screen time. They once again appeared together in Righteous Kill (2008). De Niro played Master Chief Billy Sunday in the biographical film Men of Honor (2000), based on the life of Carl Brashear, the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver. He also hosted 9/11 (2002), a documentary about the 9/11 attacks, shown on CBS and focusing on video footage made by Jules and Gedeon Naudet that showed the role of firefighters following the attacks. He reprised his role as Jack Byrnes in Meet the Fockers (2004) and was featured in Stardust (2007). All of the films were successful at the box office, but received mixed reviews. When promoting Shark Tale, De Niro said that his first experience with voice acting was enjoyable. De Niro had to turn down a role in The Departed (2006) due to commitments with preparing The Good Shepherd (2006). He said: "I wanted to. I wish I could've been able to, but I was preparing The Good Shepherd so much that I couldn't take the time to. I was trying to figure a way to do it while I was preparing. It just didn't seem possible." In June 2006, it was announced that De Niro had donated his film archive (including scripts, costumes, and props) to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. On April 27, 2009, it was announced that the De Niro collection at the Ransom Center was open to researchers and the public. De Niro directed and starred in The Good Shepherd (2006). The film reunited him onscreen with Joe Pesci, with whom he had starred in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, Once Upon a Time in America, and Casino. The same year, De Niro appeared as himself in an episode of the BBC series Extras, as Ricky Gervais' character claimed it was his ambition to meet De Niro. De Niro announced that he would appear in the film version of the BBC crime series Edge of Darkness in 2010; however, just after he arrived to begin shooting, De Niro left the film due to creative differences. He was replaced by Ray Winstone. He appeared as Senator John McLaughlin in the action film Machete (2010), and starred in the thriller Stone (2010). He again reprised his role as Jack Byrnes in Little Fockers (2010). He appeared in the action film Killer Elite (2011), Limitless (2011) and the romantic comedy film New Year's Eve (2011). De Niro starred in the film Manuale d'amore 3 (2011). In January 2011, CBS picked up De Niro's crime pilot, NYC 22 (originally titled Rookies), but it was cancelled after airing only four episodes. In 2011, De Niro was the President of the Jury for the 64th Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, he starred in the films Silver Linings Playbook, Freelancers, Red Lights, and Being Flynn. He received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Silver Linings Playbook. De Niro has said that he is working with Martin Scorsese on a new project: "I'm trying to actually work... screenwriter Eric Roth and myself and Marty are working on a script now, trying to get it done." On April 8, 2015, De Niro revealed that he'll play Enzo Ferrari in a movie to be released in 2016. Filmography Acting Producing Category:1943 births Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:American film directors of Italian descent Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American male film actors Category:American male voice actors Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of French descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor AACTA International Award winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Category:English-language film directors Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:Male actors from New York City Category:Male actors of Italian descent Category:People from Manhattan Category:People from Marbletown, New York